2007 Report Discusses the Major Peripheral Neuropathies as Well as Neuropathic P

[Guest guest]

2007 Report Discusses the Major Peripheral Neuropathies as Well as

Neuropathic Pain, Together with Prevalence, Trends and Treatment

http://www.genengnews.com/news/bnitem.aspx?name=23369790

A Comprehensive Update

This report estimates that Peripheral Neuropathy (PN) and

Neuropathic Pain (NP) affect 170 to 270 million individuals

globally.

PN and NP are causally linked to a number of diseases, however

diabetes, cancer and HIV alone are expected to increase the

prevalence of PN and NP by more than 10% by 2012.

PN and NP are areas of significant and critical unmet need. There

are no cures for PN and NP is difficult to treat and often

unresponsive to all available therapies.

Today's armoury of drugs for the treatment of NP shows significant

reliance on " second-indication " drugs, which were initially

developed to treat other primary indications (e.g. anticonvulsants,

antidepressants).

This report gives a comprehensive update on all current drugs,

together with the entire drug development pipeline, from pre-

clinical through to Phase III, Registration and initial Launch.

The pipeline includes 80 candidates being developed to treat PN and

NP as a primary indication and 60 " second-indication " drugs. More

than 300 patents published in the PN and NP field between 2002 and

2007 have also been assessed and presented, together with the

identification of potential candidate molecules and drug targets

which have not entered the development pipeline, but which may do so

in the future.

This report was written to provide a comprehensive update on

therapeutic developments relating to PN and NP, both in tackling its

most serious and debilitating symptoms, but also in targeting and

potentially correcting the underlying disease mechanisms. Commercial

evaluation and assessments including markets, market size, market

sectors, sales and trends relating to PN and NP are also included in

this report.

Drug Targets: Most current and developmental therapies for

neuropathic conditions are directed at NP. Moreover, many of today's

commonly used drugs in this area were developed for other

indications, but subsequently were found to offer useful application

in the treatment of NP. These include anticonvulsants,

antidepressants and others.

These " second indication " drugs represent around 10 pharmacological

mechanisms including 5 hydroxytryptamine uptake inhibitors,

cannabinoid CB1 agonists, carnitine acetyltransferase stimulants,

GABA receptor agonists, NMDA antagonist, opioid mu receptor

agonists, sodium channel antagonists, tumour necrosis factor alpha

antagonists and others of unidentified pharmacological activity.

In contrast, only a few molecules have been developed specifically

for NP as a primary indication and these include an aldose reductase

inhibitor, a membrane integrity agonist and an opioid kappa receptor

agonist. However, the last ten years have seen important advances in

the understanding of peripheral neuropathy and neuropathic pain at

the biological and pathophysiological level and this is reflected in

the numbers of new candidates in the drug development pipeline.

Today, there are more than 40 drug types in development for the

treatment of PN or NP as primary indications, more than 30 of which

are directed at new drug targets. Whilst most of these are directed

at NP, a number are targeting the underlying disease mechanisms,

offering the hope that NP disease progression may be blocked or even

reversed. The development and extension of new and existing

molecules for the treatment of NP and PN as second indication drugs

continues, and collectively these two groups (i.e. primary +

secondary indication drugs) represent over 60 different drug types.

Recent patent filings, 2002-2007, show a significant number of other

therapeutic opportunities which have not entered the drug

development pipeline, but which may do so in the future.

This report identifies these candidates on the basis of their

mechanism of action, drug target, developmental stage, by company

and other relevant areas.

Background and Questions : PN and NP are causally linked to a number

of conditions including diabetes, auto immunity, infection, cancer,

drugs or toxins, the autonomic nervous system and hereditary

diseases. It is estimated in this report that PN and NP currently

affect 170 to 270 million individuals globally, figures that are set

to increase by more than 10% by 2012.

This report discusses the major peripheral neuropathies as well as

neuropathic pain, together with prevalence, trends and treatments.

Some of the questions considered in this report include: i) which

therapies are available for the treatment of PN and NP, their

capabilities and failings, unmet need ii) What is happening in the

developments pipeline, which candidates are nearest to market iii)

what are the prevalences of the major neuropathies and what are the

future anticipated trends iv) what strategies are being developed in

the treatment of PN and NP, prospects of success and failure v)

which companies are developing new therapies for PN and NP vi) what

are the current market sizes relating to PN and NP, including market

sectors, sales and anticipated growth over the next 5 years.